


Your Hand in Mine

by n7chelle



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games), Mortal Kombat - All Media Types
Genre: Bittersweet, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 07:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18687007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/n7chelle/pseuds/n7chelle
Summary: The man Scorpion knows as Sub Zero pulls him aside after he arrives at the Fire Garden.***Spoilers for the story of MK11!***





	Your Hand in Mine

**Author's Note:**

> So I guess I'm a Mortal Kombat fan now. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

"You were with Han—with Grandmaster Hasashi when he died," Sub Zero says, with visible difficulty. The slip of his given name does not go unnoticed by Scorpion. "Did he...suffer?"

The audible grief behind the question startles Scorpion. Allying himself with the likes of Raiden and Liu Kang is strange enough. But this? The man who was until a scant hour ago his mortal enemy, so affected by the death of Scorpion's future self as to lose his composure? Unfathomable. Scorpion can't begin to comprehend all that must have occured between his time and today, for their association to be one of such intimacy.

"D'Vorah's poison was swift," he says, realizing he has spent too long staring without answer. Sub Zero's head bows and his breath stutters out. The sound is shallow, unsteady. A hint of frost tinges the air. Scorpion is silently disturbed at the picture before him: Sub Zero, the man he thought of only to imagine ever more gruesome methods of killing him, shattered by news of the other Scorpion's death. Moved to tears—tears! That Sub Zero allows himself to be seen in a moment of such weakness only compounds Scorpion's discomfort.

Should he say something? He doesn't know what words to offer this stranger who wears the face of his enemy.

Silence stretches between them, unbroken until Sub Zero wipes at his cheeks and raises dry eyes to meet Scorpion's.

"What did Hanzo say to convince you?" Sub Zero asks. Scorpion remembers the desperate last gasps of his older self, the fading strength in his grip on Scorpion's arm.

"He said our clan had been rebuilt. That the pride of the Shirai Ryu lives on in their hearts, if not their blood."

"Such is true with the Lin Kuei as well." Sub Zero lifts a hand in his direction, and Scorpion twitches back before he can stifle the reflex. The hand hangs in the air between them, then drops with a sigh. An apology rises to Scorpion's lips, but Sub Zero beats him to it. "Sorry. It's just—even dressed like that, it's hard to remember you're not...him."

"Perhaps," Scorpion starts, faltering. It sounds like a foolish platitude even in his head. He knows nothing of Kronika's powers, of how far her influence on the sands of time extends. Would it be cruel to give Sub Zero even a sliver of false hope?

"Perhaps the evil that Kronika has wreaked upon the realms can be undone," Sub Zero says, again speaking the words on Scorpion's tongue before he has the chance. "If Raiden's memories are to be believed, all of this has already happened countless times before." He doesn't sound hopeful. There's a cold, hard glint in his eyes, too familiar for Scorpion's taste. It's the look of a man who has lost everything, even himself, who goes on living only for the sake of claiming vengeance on the world.

"Who is to say what will happen if we break the cycle," Scorpion says. He's surprised by the sudden, intense need to bring back the warmth he'd glimpsed in this older Sub Zero. He hadn't realized until it was gone what it meant, to have incontrovertible proof that there is more to his future than an endless bloody struggle against the tragedies in his past.

"Who is to say," Sub Zero echoes. His gaze drifts, going unfocused for the space of a blink. "Thank you...Scorpion."

"For what?"

"For trusting yourself. And reminding me that trusting you is the smartest thing I've ever done." Scorpion chafes under the weight of the admission, the weight of a history he knows nothing about. It sounds too much like a confession meant for someone else.

Scorpion steps back within arms reach of Sub Zero. He lifts his own hand, deliberate in its slowness, to place it on Sub Zero's armored shoulder. Incredibly, the stiff line of tension visible at Sub Zero's throat relaxes at the touch.

He doesn't know what will come after, if he'll be returned to his own time, if the Sub Zero he's hunted will accept any overture of peace. But now that he knows there is another path open to them, one that leads not to bloodshed but brotherhood, he's determined to try. If there's any truth to this future, then there must be a part of Sub Zero that also wishes for an end to their long conflict—one that doesn't come at the cost of one or both of their lives.

Only one way to find out.

"I will fight beside you, Kuai Liang. We will defeat Kronika together." He offers Sub Zero his other hand. "As...as friends."

Sub Zero studies the open palm. Scorpion holds his breath—his body prepared for the cold bite of ice sliding into his gut, expecting it, even now—before Sub Zero grips the hand tight in his own. The coldness isn't gone from his eyes, but it's a pale shadow compared to the fierce determination Scorpion sees there now.

"Friends."

**Author's Note:**

> Orrrrrrrrr lovers, whatever, you never know. ;)
> 
> Who would've thought a Justin Timberlake song (Mirrors) would be so perfect for these palette swapped ninja husbands? Seriously, read dem lyrics and tell me otherwise. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
